


It Was in Me

by faerialchemist



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ALSO these are mostly canon-compliant, Aang (Avatar)-centric, Aang Week 2021, Air Nomads (Avatar), Air Temples (Avatar), Angst, Avatar State/Cycle, Family/Gyatso, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Grief, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Laughter/Joy, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, but this is not a ship fic, dance, day 1: everyone loves hearing aang laugh, day 2: what's in a name? or rather - what's in a family?, day 3: i don't think toph knew what the avatar state was, day 4: the headband was not a filler ep (also sokka loves aang very much), day 5: there's more to the northern air temple than meets the eye, day 6: what is grief if not the love we can no longer give?, day 7: everyone's a little bit in love with aang, i'll list the prompts first lmao, so the canon ships are mentioned a couple times, the works lmao, we deserve more aang content in this fandom!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:28:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29608749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerialchemist/pseuds/faerialchemist
Summary: Aang wasn’t sure when he started crying. He wasn’t sure when his friends joined him on the balcony, either. But when they all wrapped their arms around him in a massive, ridiculous, everything-he-could-have-ever-wanted group hug…They were Aang’s present. His friends grounded him, keeping him in the now. And yet, if he opened his eyes?Aang suspected he would fly.(A collection of ficlets written for Aang Week 2021, hosted by @ aangweek on Tumblr.)
Relationships: Aang & Appa (Avatar), Aang & Iroh (Avatar), Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Mai (Avatar), Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Suki (Avatar), Aang & Teo (Avatar), Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 109
Kudos: 105





	1. laughter/joy

1\. laughter/joy - _after the fire, new maps are drawn / nothing to cry for, new dreams are born / out of the ruins, flowers will grow / people rebuilding, stone by stone_

Aang had been… unusually silent during their first few hours at the temple. Well, maybe ‘unusual’ wasn’t the right word. A heavier gravity to him was to be expected, seeing as the official reconstruction of the Southern Air Temple was set to begin in upcoming weeks. Which meant their group of friends was currently working together to create basic blueprints of different areas. Katara would never have demanded Aang be his normal, talkative self as he combed through the ruins of his home, because _spirits_ was that an unfair standard to hold him to.

Still. That didn’t mean she couldn’t worry.

But how could they cheer him up? Katara didn’t want to make light of the turmoil she was certain he was going through, and yet she also just - she wanted to _comfort_ Aang. See him smile or hear him laugh at least _once_ while they were here. Katara couldn’t bear to watch the invisible load weigh heavier and heavier on his shoulders any longer.

At the moment, they were all mapping out the weakest parts of the temple, since reconstruction would have to begin with those more fragile areas. Toph and Zuko were one group, so Toph could sense the areas of unsteady infrastructure with her earthbending and Zuko could draw it out. Aang had gone with Suki, as he could reference his memory to compare what had changed from the past to the present while Suki marked down the most significant alterations.

Which had left Katara with her brother. For obvious reasons, Sokka would be the one examining the rubble while she would be the one mapping it out.

The work was long and tedious, though it was more painful than it was boring. While a formal ceremony had been provided for the Air Nomads a few weeks earlier at Aang’s request - a way to send their spirits off in the traditional Nomadic manner - every now and then a slab of concrete would be displaced and reveal a set of charred bones. Which only made Katara worry about Aang _more_. If it was nauseating for her to witness, she couldn’t imagine what the experience was like for him.

“We need to do something for Aang today,” Katara said when they’d all stopped for lunch. Aang had momentarily left to investigate a particular room in the temple, so she’d seized the initiative to launch a let’s-cheer-Aang-up plan. Their group sat in a circle on a small striped blanket, Appa stretched out comfortably behind them. “I - I don’t know _what_ , but there has to be something we can do to help him feel more like himself.”

Suki nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. He seemed so…” She pursed her lips. “I don’t know how to describe it. He _wants_ to restore the temples, and it’s clear he’s happy to finally start, but…” She shook her head. “It’s just hard for him, I think.”

“He barely said a word the whole time we were eating,” Toph pointed out. “I mean, he didn’t even jump in when we started making fun of Zuko.”

Zuko rolled his eyes as everyone snickered. “Normally I’d be offended, but I noticed how quiet he was, too. That’s… unlike him.”

“Okay, so we’ve agreed we need to do something,” Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest, “which means now we have to figure out what that ‘something’ is in the two minutes we have before Aang gets back.”

Katara grimaced. Her brother made a good point, disheartening as it was to admit. They needed to work fast. “Everyone. Start throwing out ideas!” Even a terrible suggestion was better than none at all.

“Er, we could make fruit pies for him?” Zuko offered, brow furrowing in contemplation.

Katara shook her head. “Not a bad idea, but it would take way too much time. Anything else?”

“Someone could play airball with him,” Suki suggested. “Didn’t you and Sokka do that the first time you visited the temple?”

Katara made a so-so gesture with her right hand. “Sokka did, yes, but I don’t know if it’s worth the risk of him mentally reliving _everything_ about our first visit here.” She hesitated, returning her hand to her lap. “He… found Gyatso’s skeleton that day, too.”

Suki’s eyes widened. “Oh. Understood.”

“Guys!” Toph hissed, her palms flat on the ground. “He’s coming back!”

Katara cursed under her breath. They’d just have to suck it up and put something together for Aang later -

“Wait!” Sokka exclaimed. “I’ve got an idea!”

“Save it for later, Snoozles!” Toph whispered, but Sokka shook his head.

“Trust me! Just follow my lead.”

Katara resisted the urge to drag her palm down the side of her face. Great. Sokka’s ideas more often than not ended in utter disaster. Tui and La, she was _begging_ for this to be the exception.

As Aang returned to their impromptu picnic area, Sokka jumped to his feet to greet him.

“Aang,” he said sternly, placing a hand on his hip, “I am very disappointed in you.” He gestured to the rest of them still sitting on the ground. “In fact, we are _all_ disappointed in you.”

Aang blinked, taken aback. “You - what? Why?”

“Because.” Sokka shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “How could you not tell us that it was Appa’s birthday?!”

Aang stared at Sokka in total confusion, and Katara didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Of course her brother would come up with something that toed the line of believable and improbable.

“It’s… what?” Aang finally said.

“Appa’s birthday!” Sokka repeated. “C’mon, Aang. Did you really think we wouldn’t find out?”

Katara decided to throw her brother a line. Admittedly, he wasn’t floundering _just_ yet, but she didn’t want to leave him treading water alone. No one could ever say she wasn’t a merciful person. “We had to find out from Appa himself!” she said, standing to move next to the sky bison. She scratched Appa’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, Appa?”

_Please play along. Please play along._

Appa gave her a dubious side-eye before roaring, and Aang’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t know you _knew_ your own birthday, buddy!” he exclaimed, airbending over their picnic area to land beside Appa. The breeze blew Katara’s hair back. “I’m sorry!” He gave the sky bison a tight hug. “How can I make it up to you?”

“He, uh, he actually already told us how he wants to celebrate,” Zuko stammered. “He thinks… He thinks we should…”

“Braid flowers in his fur!” Suki finished, and Zuko’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Like - Like when you guys first met those nomads in the… Earth Kingdom, right?”

“Yes, _exactly_ ,” Katara confirmed with an aggressive nod. Tui and La, she prayed they weren’t coming off as too emphatic. “And he told us we can - we can make flower crowns for each other, too!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Katara could see Toph pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. She couldn’t blame her friend for such a response.

For a moment, Aang didn’t speak, and Katara was terrified their ridiculous ploy would crumble to pieces.

Then he shrugged. “I like flower crowns.”

Katara was barely able to contain her sigh of relief, and she _knew_ her shoulders had visibly dropped at his words. Ah, well. If Aang _was_ suspicious of their rambling, at least he’d decided not to press the issue.

They spent the next half hour collecting flowers from around the Southern Air Temple. There were more than Katara had expected, especially considering the high altitude. She nearly cried tears of joy to see Aang passing through his home with a gentle warmth to his eyes rather than the previous quiet sadness. When they all began braiding Appa’s fur and weaving a rainbow of flowers into them, Aang smiled, too, complimenting his bison about how stylish he’d look when they were done.

There was nothing more beautiful than Aang’s smile.

It didn’t take long for their group to begin reminiscing about different memories with Appa. In honor of his “birthday,” after all.

Toph talked about how the very first time she’d flown on Appa, she’d been certain death was a more pleasurable experience. Suki recounted the story of when she’d found Appa and nursed him back to health, which prompted Zuko to tell the tale of his own Appa rescue mission.

Aang pulled them both into a tight hug before braiding strings of flowers in their hair, too.

Sokka was the one who brought up the cave of two lovers and his experiences of being trapped with the nomads, and Katara couldn’t resist the urge to tease Aang about his ever-so-romantic _I’d rather kiss you than die!_ compliment. That particular story earned laughter from all, Aang included, who made a teasing remark about how _clearly it worked_ before pressing a kiss to the tip of Katara’s nose. She dropped a pink flower crown on his head as he pulled away.

Joy was in the little things, Katara knew. And sometimes, joy was in the things that hurt, that _ached_ , like the ruins of a once-beautiful air temple.

No. It was _still_ beautiful. Because they were here, breathing life into death. Because out of these ruins, flowers were growing. Because out of loss, joy could bloom, too.

Aang laughed at some offhand comment from Sokka, and Katara smiled.

It was their favorite sound.


	2. family/gyatso

2\. family/gyatso - _live like there’s no tomorrow (‘cause all we have is here, right now) / love like it’s all that we know (the only chance that we ever found)_

“Hey, Zuko,” Katara said as she gently pushed Mai’s bangs out of her sweat-ridden forehead, “can you step outside with Izumi for a moment? I’m going to heal Mai up a bit, but I’ll need it as quiet as possible to concentrate.”

Zuko nodded, panicked tears of relief still trickling down his face. “Right. Yes. I can - I can do that.”

Katara showed Zuko how to cradle the baby, shooting Aang a look over the firebender’s shoulder that said _keep him distracted_ while she did so. Aang gave her a discreet nod before following Zuko out the room. He snagged a tissue from a table on his way - Aang had no doubt his friend would need it.

Mai’s labor had been unexpected. Early.

Dangerous.

It was sheer luck he and Katara were still in the Fire Nation. They were supposed to have left earlier that day - well, yesterday at this point - but had ultimately chosen to stay another night because of a bad thunderstorm rolling in. He and his wife were master waterbenders, yes, but that didn’t mean Aang would feel _right_ forcing Appa to fly through such miserable, risky weather. So they’d stayed, and it was a good thing they had.

Without Katara’s healing abilities…

Aang didn’t want to think about what might have happened to the new mother and child if Katara hadn’t been there. He couldn’t begin to imagine how Zuko was feeling.

Aang closed the door behind him, joining his friend on a small, gold-adorned bench not far from the room they exited from. He left about a foot of space between them when he sat, and he watched Zuko cradle Izumi ever closer to his chest. The baby appeared so tiny and fragile and even sickly, yet all the same…

“She’s beautiful,” Aang murmured. He smiled down at Izumi, who was now sound asleep. Her first cry had been loud and healthy, much to everyone’s relief. Not all premature babies were so lucky. “She’s going to look so much like Mai, isn’t she?”

Zuko laughed, though the sound was still wet with tears. “Tell me about it.” He took a shuddering breath, and Aang offered him the tissue. Zuko accepted it, wiping his face before returning his hand beneath Izumi to support the newborn with both arms once more. “Better than her looking like me.”

Aang frowned, unsure what had provoked that particular line of thought from his friend. “What do you mean?”

Zuko shrugged, careful not to disturb Izumi. “My family’s genes are all but cursed.” He brushed his daughter’s dark hair out of her face. “Better for her not to bear that burden.”

Aang stared at his friend, probably more flabbergasted than he needed to be. He supposed his reaction could be attributed to the early hours of the morning. That and the fragile, weary relief still hanging over all four - five - of them. “Are you kidding me right now?” he at last managed to say.

Zuko gave him a dubious look, which was at least better than the terror that had been so prominent in his eyes only minutes earlier. “Aang. You know my family’s history.” He laughed. Tired. Bitter. “Can you blame me for wanting to spare her that?”

Aang hesitated. “Zuko… that’s not your legacy.” Confusion permeated his voice. “I mean, it’s part of it, yes, but… but that’s it. A _part_. Part of your family. Part of your history. Not the whole.” He paused before adding, “You… know there’s more to you and your decisions and - and what you leave behind than the choices your blood relatives made.”

Didn’t he?

Zuko frowned, carefully shifting Izumi in his arms. “The percentage doesn’t matter. They’re still my family and my mistakes to own.”

Aang pursed his lips. Zuko wasn’t wrong, per se, but… He was missing something. Even after so many years, he was _still_ missing it. In all fairness to his friend, Aang supposed old, indoctrinated mentalities could be difficult to revise. “Zuko,” he continued after a beat had passed between them, “how do you define a family?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow at him. “Is this a trick question?”

It seemed Aang was transparent. He shrugged. “Maybe. But I won’t judge you when you get it wrong.”

Zuko snorted. “‘When.’ Your faith in me is comforting.” He slowly rocked Izumi. “Parents, I guess. Children. Grandparents. Aunts and uncles. Siblings.”

Not wrong. But not fully right, either. As expected.

Aang chuckled. “Then I guess I didn’t have a family.” He held up a hand before Zuko could speak, the panic written across his friend’s face causing him to bite back a louder laugh. “I didn’t live with my parents. If I had siblings, I didn’t know who they were.” He shrugged. “Guess my childhood was miserable and lonely.”

Zuko sighed, rolling his eyes. “Alright. I can tell you’re readying up some Avatar wisdom. Hit me with it. End my suffering.”

Aang laughed again. “Not Avatar wisdom, actually.” He reached across to adjust the crimson blanket Izumi was swaddled in before smiling at Zuko. Perhaps his expression was tinged with sorrow. “Air Nomad.”

Zuko’s eyes widened, but his gaze soon softened. “Of course.” He offered Aang a sorrowful smile of his own. “Even better for me to learn from.”

“You’re not wrong, per se, about what a family is,” Aang began. He noticed how Zuko’s hair hung limp across his shoulders, remnants of anxious sweat causing it to stick to the sides of his face. “Families do involve your parents and your ancestors.” He stood, moving around the bench to stand behind Zuko. “Ozai. Sozin.” Aang pulled his friend’s hair back from his face, gently combing through tangles with his fingers. “Roku, too.”

Zuko relaxed into Aang’s touch, though he kept his daughter cradled firmly to his chest. “Are you trying to remind me that not everyone I’m descended from did horrible things?”

“Mm, you can draw your own conclusions there.” Aang’s nails lightly scraped Zuko’s scalp, and his friend shivered. “But like I said - that’s only _part_ of what a family is. The rest of it?” A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “They’re whoever you choose to welcome into your life.”

Zuko snorted. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“No?” Aang began coalescing Zuko’s hair into a low braid. “Monk Gyatso didn’t have to be related to me for him to be my family. I didn’t have to marry Katara for Sokka to start feeling like my brother.” He chuckled. “We had that relationship long before Katara and I were even dating.”

Aang finished his friend’s braid, tying it off with a ribbon he usually reserved for his wife. He spared Izumi another awestruck glance before sitting down next to Zuko once more. “And Iroh didn’t have to be your father to feel like your dad, did he?”

It was a question that required no answer. Zuko didn’t provide one, and Aang didn’t press him to, either.

“You’re not bound by the mistakes of your ancestors,” Aang continued, his voice soft, “and neither will your daughter be. Because family is everything more than the people you share a name with.” He hesitated. “Does that… make sense?”

There was a pause. Then Zuko exhaled slowly. “Yeah. It does.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Izumi’s forehead before offering his daughter to Aang. “Do you want to hold her?” A small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. “Since you’re her family, too.”

“I suppose I am her great-great-grandfather,” Aang mused as he accepted the precious cargo, cradling her to his chest the way Katara had instructed Zuko.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Aang laughed, though he never took his eyes off the delicate new life in his arms. “Yeah. I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aang with kids makes me SOFT. i hope to see you for day 3 - avatar state/cycle! thank you for reading!


	3. avatar state/cycle

3\. avatar state/cycle - _someone has drained the color from my wings / broken my fairy circle ring_

Toph couldn’t explain the feeling.

The sand in the desert alone had made it thrice as hard for her to discern anything about her surroundings, so if Toph was honest, she had next to no idea of what happened when Aang learned who’d stolen Appa. Wind and sand had bitten at her face, she recalled, and dug into the corners of her eyes. Sokka had grabbed her arm, pulling her backwards and yelling for everyone to run. Other than that, it had all been… imperceptible.

There had been _power_ in the air, though. Power that had crackled over her skin like lightning, burning a hole through her chest. So Toph may not have known the details of what was happening around her, but when Aang spoke with the voice of a thousand ancient, aching souls… Her blood had run cold.

And yet, not even two minutes later, the roaring wind had died.

Toph didn’t understand. Maybe - Maybe part of her was afraid to. To learn the source of such raw strength, raw energy. But she _needed_ to know. She owed Aang that, at least, didn’t she? Because it was her fault. Hers and hers alone that the sandbenders had stolen Appa.

But Toph didn’t dare ask Aang himself. The guilt gnawing at her insides only worsened whenever she was within a few feet of her friend. She’d nearly asked Sokka, but a thought had occurred to her moments before she’d readied herself to approach him.

Toph… didn’t remember Sokka grabbing his little sister while they were in the desert. This recollection - or lack thereof - led her to conclude that maybe, just maybe… Katara had been with _Aang_. If that was true, then she’d know better than anyone what had happened after Appa was stolen.

Asking Katara was harder than asking Sokka, though, for reasons Toph couldn’t quite place. Reasons she didn’t _want_ to place.

But Toph willed herself to ask. She was an earthbender, after all - she had to face her problems head-on, because they weren’t going to disappear on their own. They would only grow heavier and heavier and heavier on her back until she squared her shoulders and threw the weight off of her own accord.

Toph waited until a night where Sokka and Aang were asleep already. Katara was usually the last to fall asleep, anyways - something about her connection to the moon - but Aang tended to stay up with her. Not tonight, though. He’d passed out seconds after collapsing next to Sokka. Such timing had worked out in Toph’s favor.

She crept across their camp with light footsteps so as not to wake their friends. Katara wasn’t far away - only ten or so feet from their weakly flickering fire, her back against a large rock that crested out the ground. If the purring Toph heard was any indication, the waterbender was petting Momo, too.

Toph lowered herself next to Katara, unsure of how to initiate a conversation. Thankfully, her friend had it covered.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Katara’s voice was quiet. Gentle.

Toph shrugged. “Could’ve. Chose not to.”

Katara chuckled. “Alright. Care to share why you’ve _chosen_ to stay awake, then?”

Toph’s mouth went dry. All thoughts of preparation and readiness went out the window as she was struck with a paralyzing notion - what if Katara blamed her for Appa being stolen, too?

There was a pause. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to,” Katara hastily reassured her. “I just…” She exhaled. “I’m here to listen if you need it, okay?”

Toph licked her lips. It was now or never. “I - I have a question, actually,” she managed to say without her voice cracking. She flexed her palms, tension already rising in her body. “What… What happened in the desert? With the sandbenders?” She took a deep breath. “With Aang?”

There was another pause, this one longer than before. Toph might have feared Katara had walked away if she hadn’t been able to feel her friend through the large stone they both still rested against.

Katara sighed. “You must be talking about the Avatar state.”

Toph frowned. “The what?”

“The Avatar state. Did your parents not tell you about it when you were little?”

Toph snorted. “The history of the Avatar wasn’t exactly covered in my personal schooling. My parents were more worried about my ability to walk in a straight line without slouching.” Not to mention no one in her household had expected the Avatar to resurface. As far as her parents had been concerned, the Avatar had never existed. They were nothing more than a legend of the less fortunate.

“Oh.” Katara grimaced. Toph could hear the expression in her friend’s voice. “Right.” She shifted, causing Momo to release a low _mrp_. “Well, the Avatar state is like… the Avatar at their most powerful,” she explained. “They have access to the knowledge of all the previous Avatars, so they can perform incredible feats of bending with all four elements, even if they haven’t mastered certain elements themselves yet.”

Toph nodded. “So… Aang went into the Avatar state when we met the sandbenders?”

“Yes, exactly.”

That explained the sheer power weighing in the air, fizzing over her skin like static and threatening to paralyze her. And the voices. Those must have been the voices of past Avatars, channeling their power and their rage through Aang.

Toph’s brows furrowed. “Okay. I… I think I understand.” She bent earth beneath her right palm, just to give her body another task to focus on besides the anxiety clinging to the back of her throat. “But what _actually_ happened then? When he went into the Avatar state?”

“What do you mean?” Katara asked, puzzled.

“I” - spirits, why was this so hard for her to articulate? - “I couldn’t _see_ out there. There was wind and sand and energy and -” Toph cut herself off with a helpless shrug. “And fear.”

So much fear. Maybe hers, maybe Aang’s, maybe both.

Toph’s fingers curled into the ground. “I guess… _why_ Aang went into the Avatar, what that _means_ , is what I don’t get.”

“Oh.” There was a note of recognition in Katara’s voice. A sort of… acknowledgement, maybe, that hadn’t been present before. Whatever it was, Toph was grateful for it.

“I think I understand what you’re asking now.” Katara chuckled. “Although I’m struggling to figure out how to explain the Avatar state without using too many visual details.” She bumped Toph’s shoulder with her own. “Telling you his eyes and arrows started glowing blue doesn’t mean much, does it?”

Toph snorted. “No, not really.”

“I figured.” Katara hummed, contemplative. “Okay. Think about it this way.” There was another _mrp_ as Momo was presumably disturbed from his slumber once more. “The Avatar state is… an instinct. Sokka would probably call it a defense mechanism.”

Toph frowned. “Wait. If it’s an instinct, how does Aang control it?” When she’d first learned earthbending from the badgermoles, her instinct had stopped boulders from crushing her, but she’d also sent them flying every which way. Did Aang -

“He doesn’t,” Katara said. “Not really. The Avatar state activates in moments of… need, I guess?” She sighed. “It’s hard to explain. Whenever Aang is under some kind of intensity, like - like emotional or physical stress, the Avatar state might be activated.”

“So it’s kind of… to protect him?” Toph thought back to the descriptor of a defense mechanism. It sounded like the Avatar state was almost a shield. A reaction to some form of pain. Which meant in the desert, he’d…

“Yeah, protection is a good way to describe it!” Katara laughed. “Though it’s the most offensive defense I’ve ever seen.”

Katara’s words entered Toph’s mind through a haze. In the desert, none of them had been injured. Tired, yes, dehydrated, sure, but not _injured_. Which meant for Aang to have entered the Avatar state…

It must have been because of emotional pain.

“Anyways,” Katara continued after a pause. “I’m only guessing at this point, but I think learning what happened to Appa just… overwhelmed Aang. So his body reacted in response. Tried to protect him from his own emotions.”

Momo started purring again. Toph guessed Katara had resumed her gentle petting of the lemur.

“When Aang found Monk Gyatso’s skeleton at the Southern Air Temple,” Katara whispered, her voice laced with a quiet grief, “he… he had the same reaction.”

Toph swallowed the lump in her throat. She would not cry. “So it was sadness, then,” she said when she was certain her voice wouldn’t waver. _Devastation._ “Anger.” _Rage_. “Fear.” _Terror._

Toph clenched the front fabric of her tunic. “Just… hurt.”

There was a pause. “Yeah,” Katara confirmed. Her tone was almost… mournful. “He’s already lost everything, and now -” She cut herself off with a sharp inhale. Toph didn’t need Katara to finish to know what would be said.

_Now Appa’s gone, too._

Toph couldn’t stop a tear from slipping out. She rubbed it away, praying Katara would interpret her action as one of exhaustion instead of guilt.

But maybe Katara was crying, too. The silence meant Toph had no way of knowing.

“Come on,” Katara finally said. “We should get to bed. We’ll be travelling on foot for now, so that means we need as much rest as we can get.”

Toph flinched. “Right.” But before Katara could stand up, Toph grabbed her arm. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For taking the time to… talk with me.”

Katara smiled at her. Toph didn’t need to see to know that. “Anytime.”

The next morning, Toph awoke at the crack of dawn. After a more restful night than she’d had in days, perhaps waking earlier was to be expected. Even better, Twinkle Toes was already up. Based on the heat in the air, he’d started cooking breakfast for them over a new fire, too.

Toph marched over to Aang’s side and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. She ignored his startled yelp, instead squeezing him tighter. “We _will_ get Appa back,” she whispered. “I promise.”

A beat passed. Aang wrapped his arms around her in response. “Thank you,” he murmured. His own embrace tightened. “I know we will.”

Toph was never going to let him feel such a hurt again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was not intentional but i think there's some major katophaang vibes from this ficlet, lmao (i have no regrets). i hope to see you tomorrow for day 4 - dance. thank you for reading!


	4. dance

4\. dance - _if you hit a wall, climb over it, crawl under it, or dance on top of it_

_What year did Fire Lord Sozin battle the Air Nation army?_

The Air Nation army.

What army? The ashen remains of bones that littered the Air Temples? The memories of a past erased and rewritten by the conquerors? The whispers and cries of voices drowned out by roaring flames? That army?

Aang shuddered, pulling his knees to his chest. Was that how his people were remembered? As part of a history reformatted and reworked? As aggressors instead of defenders? As casualties, no, as _soldiers_ instead of victims? Was that how the world had chosen to immortalize his people?

Aang sighed, releasing his legs before slowly pushing himself into a sitting position. He wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon. And besides - he could see the sun inching upwards over the horizon. Daybreak had almost arrived, which meant it was only a matter of time before everyone woke up and they continued travelling. There was no point in him trying to catch an extra hour of shut-eye.

Maybe he could meditate for a bit. While he waited for morning to come. It could help him clear his mind, he supposed, of… of those more painful memories. Of false knowledge force-fed down his throat.

But as Aang stood to find an open place for meditation, he was distracted by the presence of Sokka. His friend was already awake, hunched over and scribbling away at his lengthy schedule.

“We can shorten our stay here,” Sokka muttered, “and taking this route shaves two hours off our total travel time if we only take one break instead of two -” He stopped when Aang joined him, the airbender plopping down on a patch of grass. “Good morning?” He paused. “Uh… What are you doing up so early?”

Aang gave his friend an amused smile, folding his legs criss-cross. Considering he himself was usually the first one up, Aang couldn’t help but find Sokka’s question rather hilarious. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

Sokka shrugged. “Just trying to rework our schedule. I have to take in account the extra days we stayed in that cave if we want to arrive at the meet-up point for the eclipse invasion on time.”

Aang flinched at the reminder. Of the upcoming eclipse or the additional days he’d encouraged his friends to stay in the city, he wasn’t sure. When Sokka glanced at him, Aang looked away. Down at his feet. “Right. Yeah. I guess we do need to make up for that… lost time.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow, at first not commenting. He rolled up his schedule and placed it aside. “So, why again did you say you were up so early?”

Aang hadn’t.

He sighed, leaning backwards to stare up at the arrival of dawn and bracing himself with his palms. Clouds of orange and red and yellow burned before Aang. Hues not dissimilar to fire. “Dreams.” Memories.

Sokka nodded. “Nightmares?”

“Kind of.”

“Want to talk about them?”

_The Air Nomads didn’t have a formal military._

Aang shook his head. “Not really.”

Sokka nodded. “That’s okay. You don’t have to.” He tucked the group’s schedule into his bag. “Want to talk about something else?”

Aang didn’t answer immediately. Stuck on some twisted loop, his mind traced over and over and over the surprise, the shock, the disbelief of every kid’s face in the cave as he’d danced before them. They, too, had been robbed of their childhood. Not in the same way, no. Not at the same price. But it had been stolen from them all the same.

“Do you think I helped them?” Aang finally whispered. His fingers dug into the dirt beneath his palms, collecting behind his nails. “The Fire Nation kids, I mean.” He sat up straight again, this time making eye contact with his friend. “Toph told me I helped them to be free.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Do you… Do you think she was right?”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “Uh, what are you talking about?” Aang opened his mouth to explain, but Sokka continued before he could get a word out. “Of course she was right.”

Aang’s voice disappeared into his chest for a full ten seconds before resurfacing. “She was? But it was just a dance par-”

“It wasn’t ‘just’ a dance party, Aang,” Sokka interrupted, giving him a wry smile after his use of dramatic finger quotes. “You gave those kids their first moment of independent thought. I know I called them ‘depraved little monsters’” - Aang snorted at the reminder - “and while I don’t think I was too far off with that assessment, I’ve come to the conclusion that…” Sokka pursed his lips. “Well. _Deprived_ might be a better word.”

Deprived.

Yes, that was fitting.

“I still can’t believe they didn’t know how to dance,” Aang said after a pause. “A hundred years ago, the Fire Nation was - was the place to be for dancing!” He learned everything he knew from Kuzon, after all. “And now…” Aang sighed. “Sure, I gave them a taste of fun, but they’re all going to be punished for it.” If they hadn’t been already. “Was that - Was it even worth it for them?”

“I think it was,” Sokka answered, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. “Like I said - it wasn’t just a dance party.” A beat passed, and he winked at Aang as he held a finger over his lips. “It was a _secret_ dance party.”

Aang laughed. “What are you talking ab-”

“You taught them to challenge authority!” Sokka continued, throwing his hands in the air. “You taught them that sometimes, to learn the _real_ truth, you have to think outside the box and track down other sources.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Aang, you showed them that adults can be _wrong_. That people in power are not infallible.” Sokka grinned at him. “So you didn’t just teach them to be free. You taught them how to find their own freedom, too. And in a brainwashed, messed-up country like the Fire Nation?” He snorted. “Spirits know they need that.”

Brainwashed… Not an inaccurate term to describe the misinformation - the lies - Aang knew their country had built its new foundation on.

“Thanks, Sokka,” Aang said, giving his friend a soft smile as tension eased from his shoulders. Maybe it _was_ a good thing, then, that he’d stayed those extra days in the cave. Those kids were the future of the Fire Nation. Change would have to start with them.

“You’re welcome, buddy.”

Aang bit his lip. A beat passed. “Can I ask you another question?”

“I mean, you technically just did - _kidding_ , I’m kidding,” Sokka amended as Aang rolled his eyes. “None of you have a sense of humor.”

“Sokka, you know I think you’re the funniest guy in the four nations.”

“And you would be right!” They both laughed, and Sokka continued once their snickering had died down. “But sure, go ahead. What’s on your mind?”

Aang opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated, out of nowhere finding that it was thrice as difficult for air to enter and exit his lungs. How embarrassing for an - the last - airbender.

Deep breaths. In and out.

_Well, I don’t know how_ you _could possibly know more than our national history book._

“What… What were you taught about my people?” Aang found himself staring at the ground, at his feet, at anywhere but Sokka’s eyes. “The Air Nomads?”

“Uh… not much,” Sokka admitted, and Aang grimaced. “We knew Sozin massacred them in an attempt to kill the Avatar, which started the war. Gran Gran told us they were a peaceful people, too, and were all really gifted benders.” He hesitated, giving Aang an apologetic glance. “I’m… sorry I don’t know more.”

Aang’s chest ached with an emptiness he sometimes feared would never be filled. But at least Sokka hadn’t been told -

“You know my people didn’t attack first, though?” His voice faltered, and Aang cleared his throat. “That - That they never wanted to fight?”

_Sozin defeated them by ambush._

“Yeah,” Sokka said quietly. “I know.”

He forced down the lump in his throat, and when Sokka moved to pull him into a tight embrace, Aang allowed himself to fall apart in his friend’s arms.

When the sun had risen and his tears had dried, Aang spoke.

“After I defeat Fire Lord Ozai… you’re going to dance with me.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “I’m gonna what now?”

“Dance with me.” Aang gave him a small smile. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’re too much of a picken to dance with your best friend.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “You know what? Sure. Why not. When you defeat Fire Lord Ozai, I’ll dance with you.” He grinned at Aang. “I look forward to it, _hotman_.”

Aang laughed. “Flameo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am prepared and willing to throw hands with anyone who says "the headband" ep was pointless filler (it really and truly was not). also, i read something and it said flameo was a curse word, and idk if that's true, but you're welcome to interpret the final line as aang being like "fuck yeah!" if you'd like. thank you for reading, and i hope to see you tomorrow for day 5 - air temples!


	5. air temples

5\. air temples - _i finally realized, all of this time / it was in me / all along, it was in me_

Faded. That was the word. Everything about the Northern Air Temple was… faded.

The murals had grown softer, paint peeling and splintered with jagged cracks. The walls were crumbling in many rooms, the insertion of metal pipes drastically changing the infrastructure. Spaces that had once been full of people, full of _life_ , were abandoned. Desolate. Empty.

Aang’s memories were so - so _vibrant_ in his mind. And now, the present simply… paled in comparison.

Faded. Everything had faded.

His chest was tight.

“Aang? Can I come in?”

Aang blinked upon hearing his name, turning around to see that Teo had wheeled up behind him. His new friend had come to a stop beneath a fractured wooden doorframe. “Uh… sure?” he finally answered. “I don’t think you need my permission, though.”

Teo shrugged as he rolled inside. “You seemed lost in thought. I didn’t want to startle you.”

Aang flushed. He’d definitely been caught up in the past. Or maybe he’d been agonizing over the present. Was there a difference? “Oh.”

Teo laughed. “Nothing wrong with being easy to read. My father tells me I’m the same.”

Aang smiled. “I guess it’s not too bad, then. Having anything in common with you is a plus.”

It was Teo’s turn for his face to redden. “Wow. Me, having something in common with the Avatar?” He shook his head, feigning awe. “That’s incredible. I’ve never felt so cool.”

Aang rolled his eyes, grinning. “As if you didn’t almost out-glide me all of a few hours ago.”

“‘Almost’?” Teo repeated, eyes twinkling with mischief. “I seem to recall that I _did_ out-glide you, Avatar.”

Aang laughed, tilting his head to the side. “Then I guess we’ll just have to organize an official rematch, won’t we?”

“I’ll pencil it into my schedule. Hope you’re ready to lose again.”

“Ooh, fighting words.” Aang winked at him. “Don’t count your pickens before they hatch.” A beat passed, and he shook his head, realizing Teo had probably not tracked him down for small talk. “Sorry. I kind of took us on a tangent there. Was there a specific reason you were looking for me?”

Teo blinked. “Yes. Right.” He jutted his thumb behind them. “There’s something I want to show you in my room. I think it might… mean something to you.”

Aang frowned. “Should we get Katara and Sokka?”

Teo shook his head. “No. It won’t matter to them.” He hesitated, amending, “I mean, we can get them if you want, of course. It’s just -” Teo huffed. “Sorry. I didn’t think…” He met Aang’s eyes, and his next words made Aang’s entire body tense. “I found something from your people. The airbenders. I thought you might want to see it… in private.”

Aang swallowed hard, blinking back tears he both did and didn’t understand. “Thank you,” he whispered after a pause. He cleared his throat. “I really appreciate that.” He gestured to the door. “Lead the way?”

Teo nodded, and when he steered himself out the room, Aang followed.

“I found it recently,” Teo explained as he directed Aang through the temple. “Completely on accident, too. I had to get up super early one morning to help my dad with some work, so I wasn’t even half-awake when I got into my chair. I was pulling my hair up, but apparently I’d forgotten to lock the brakes, because gravity rolled me backwards with a little extra force into the corner of my room.”

Aang’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you -”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Teo reassured him with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I took way harder hits than that when I was first learning how to land with my glider.”

Aang laughed. “Yeah, landing is a lot easier when you can use airbending as a cushion.”

Teo sighed dramatically. “If only! I have to rely on favorable air currents and precise mathematical angles.”

Aang winked at him. “Which goes to show how brilliant you are, since you now land so effortlessly.”

Teo snorted. “Trial and error, Aang. Trial and error.” He gave him a crooked smile. “And all the math, too.” He paused, rolling to a stop. “Okay. We’re here.”

The room wasn’t too different from how Aang remembered the sleeping quarters of the Northern Air Temple to be. Minimalistic, yet comforting. Aang noticed there were a few mechanical gadgets scattered about the place that hadn’t been there a century ago, as well as a wooden desk with smudged blueprints resting atop it.

Teo must have realized what he was looking at, as his face went scarlet and he immediately flipped the sketches over. “Sorry. They’re nowhere near as good as my dad’s yet.”

Aang wanted to protest that Teo’s designs were fine and he didn’t want to compare them to his father’s anyway, but his voice vanished as Teo pointed to an open corner of his bedroom. A small space to the left of his friend’s sleeping arrangements.

“My chair knocked a brick loose that morning,” Teo explained, continuing the story he’d started in the hall. “At first, I thought it was just because the temple is old.” He wheeled over to the corner, running his hand over a stone slightly lighter than the rest. Indiscernible to someone not looking for it. “But when I tried to fix it…” Teo slid the brick out of the wall. In the space left open behind it were…

Scrolls?

“I found these,” Teo finished, pulling out three sheets of rolled-up parchment with his other hand and offering them to Aang. “I think they were made by the airbenders who used to live here.” He paused. “Your people, I mean.”

Aang accepted the scrolls with shaking hands. The edges of the papers had yellowed with time, age making them thin and fragile, but overall the pages were well-preserved.

Aang carefully unrolled each sheet, smoothing them out flat atop Teo’s desk. They were… Pictures.

Art.

Two were drawn by young boys, Aang presumed, based on the inexperience and bright hues of the art style. One was of a grinning sky bison, and the other was a color-coded collage of the symbols for the four elements. Both images radiated childlike glee.

The third was much neater, painted by the hand of someone gifted with a brush. It depicted the Air Nomads’ tattooing ceremony, Aang realized, where an unidentified airbender was being given their arrows and granted the title of an airbending master. Everything about the picture was - was _vibrant_ , from the sky blue arrows to the warm tones of the monks’ orange robes, each detail bursting with memories of a peaceful time long since passed.

Aang hadn’t realized he was crying until Teo began to frantically ask if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” Aang reassured his friend, voice steadier than he expected it to be. He wiped his eyes, but tears continued to silently fall. “I just…” He glanced down at the three artworks a second time before turning around to crush Teo in a hug. The young mechanic seemed shocked, but soon returned the embrace.

“Thank you,” Aang whispered, his face nestled in Teo’s shoulder. “For keeping them alive.”

Teo squeezed Aang tighter. “I owe them everything. We wouldn’t have survived without this temple.”

The Northern Air Temple. Full of secrets and surprises. A painful past, a painful present, yet nonetheless possessing a hopeful future.

Faded, Aang had called it.

No. No, it wasn’t faded. He’d been wrong. The temple was _vibrant_. Bursting with colors contained behind gray stone walls. The temple was scarred, maybe. Aang couldn’t deny that. Bruised, even. Beaten and broken and blistered.

But not faded.

_Vibrant_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no i don't have a teoaang agenda why do you ask?? i hope to see you tomorrow for day 6 - grief. (also can y'all believe aang week is almost finished?? i need a whole aang year smh.) thank you for reading!


	6. grief

6\. grief - _and when i can’t be with you dream me near / keep me in your heart and i’ll appear_

Aang took a deep breath as he stepped onto the balcony of Iroh’s tea shop in Ba Sing Se. The air was… well, not cool - it was never _cool_ during Earth Kingdom summers, even if it didn’t get quite as hot as in the Fire Nation - but it wasn’t overly warm, either. The humidity wasn’t too extreme in the evening, though if anything Aang appreciated the slight gravity to the air. It was… grounding.

Fitting for the Earth Kingdom, but perhaps an odd sensation for an airbender to seek.

Still. Aang found a certain comfort in the air’s heavier presence. It was there. Surrounding him, clothing him. _He_ was there, existing and living and breathing in the moment. In the present. In the now.

Only… He wasn’t.

No, Aang was in the past, as he was wont to be. Particularly on that day of all days. If he closed his eyes, the Southern Air Temple sat before him, alive and carefree and in its prime as it had been… a hundred and one years ago. If he listened, he could hear the laughter of students learning their first airbending technique from the monks. Echoes of the past. If he took a deep breath, he could smell freshly-made fruit pies, sweet and tangy like those he’d whip up with Gyatso.

Sometimes… Aang could pretend nothing had changed at all.

Of course, the truth was that everything had.

Aang sighed, opening his eyes to stare down at his wooden necklace. Engraved in the center was the symbol of his people and their element. Today was a day of celebration, he knew, but the heart didn’t often lend itself to such clarity.

It was the first anniversary of the end of the Hundred Year War. The first anniversary of the Fire Nation’s defeat. The first anniversary of a new, peaceful era. A cycle of cruelty had ended, and a future of harmony had begun.

Well, perhaps it wasn’t quite so simple.

A ghost of a smile graced Aang’s lips. How the past lingered on.

His friends were inside the Jasmine Dragon, laughing and teasing each other just as they’d done a year ago. They were relaxing after a long day of political tasks and dull meetings and formal celebrations, a decision for which Aang could not blame them.

Soon, they would join him on the balcony. Aang knew this. His friends never let him be alone for long.

But for now, Aang basked in the stillness. And he breathed.

“Greetings, Avatar Aang.”

Aang blinked upon hearing his name. Or rather, hearing his formal title. Of all his friends to join him first, he’d suspected it would be Katara. Maybe Zuko. But not… Well, who was Aang to question the workings of the universe? It was far more powerful than he.

“Grand Lotus Iroh,” he said, bowing to the older man. “Is there something you need?”

Iroh chuckled. “I suppose I don’t ‘need’ anything, but I will remind you that it is not necessary to address me so formally. Just ‘Iroh’ is fine.”

Aang gave him a small smile. “On one condition - you have to drop the formalities for me, too.”

Iroh’s chuckling became full-on laughter, booming from the man’s stomach. “Oh, you sound like my nephew. He can’t stand it when I address him as the Fire Lord.” He smiled at Aang. “I accept your condition, Aang.”

Aang found himself laughing, too. “Thank you, _Iroh_.” He’d always been fond of Zuko’s uncle. For one, Iroh had given him memorable - powerful - advice on their journey into the crystal catacombs together. And two, it was clear as day just how much Iroh _loved_ Zuko, and how he tried to be the doting father Zuko had never had. In that respect…

Well, he reminded Aang of Gyatso. A little bit. Caring for a person with every bone in his body, guiding a child through responsibilities thrust upon them that they were unprepared to bear, and loving a little boy who wasn’t their own son. Who didn’t _need_ to be.

“Are you alright, Aang?” Iroh asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. “I noticed you withdraw from your friends in my shop with a rather…” He paused. “Pensive expression, I suppose. I simply wanted to check on you.”

Oops. Had he already given himself away?

Aang shrugged, returning his focus to the cityscape of Ba Sing Se before him once more. Lanterns lit the streets as laughter and music filled the air. “I have a couple things on my mind. Nothing too serious.” A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I’d say it’s been a long, busy day, but I don’t want to imply you weren’t there for as much of it as I was.”

Iroh chuckled. “Perhaps I was there for most of it. But my responsibilities are certainly not comparable to those of the Avatar.” He, too, turned to look out over the city. “However… This day presents conflicting feelings to you, does it not?”

Aang stiffened as Iroh’s comment sunk in, wondering how on Earth the man could have known what was on his mind. But he soon relaxed, realizing it wasn’t exactly difficult to put two and two together. And moreover, Iroh was simply… well, he was an observant person. _Zuko_ was his nephew, after all. During Zuko’s banishment, Aang had a feeling Iroh had needed two sets of eyes in the back of his head to keep track of him.

“That’s one way to put it,” Aang admitted, a soft smile inching onto his lips. “But I didn’t want my overthinking to ruin the festivities, so I came out here.” Even from the balcony, he could hear Katara and Sokka squabbling about the significance of a particular Pai Sho tile, soon interrupted by Mai dryly informing them that they were _both_ wrong.

“I am sure your friends would not -”

“I know, I know,” Aang interrupted with a laugh. He looked down once more at the wooden beads hanging around his neck. “I think I just needed… a minute of quiet. With myself.” Himself, and the past that ever influenced the present.

Aang glanced at Iroh, hastily adding, “It’s okay that you came out here, though! I don’t - I don’t mind the company.”

Iroh gave him a warm smile. “Since I _am_ here, would you like to share your thoughts with me? About your conflict, that is.” He stroked his beard. “Please don’t feel pressured, of course. But if you speak, know I will listen.”

Aang allowed a pause to pass between them. Gathering his thoughts. A moment of silence, filled only by his friends’ muted voices from indoors and the cityscape chattering around them. Then he sighed.

“It’s not a big deal, really.” Aang gently clasped his wooden pendant, fingers tracing the curves engraved in the center. “A year ago, I defeated Fire Lord Ozai. And I _am_ happy about that. Happy that the war is over. That we won.” He exhaled slowly. “But if I think too much about it…”

His hand tightened on the beads, and Aang found himself looking anywhere but at Iroh. “I chose to spare Ozai’s life. I don’t regret that decision, because affirming and upholding the beliefs of my people is - is -” Aang blinked back tears, and he took a sharp breath before he continued. “One of the reasons it was so important was because I’m the _last_ of my people. I’m the only one _left_ who can uphold our beliefs.”

Aang bit the inside of his cheek to avoid breaking into sobs, but against his will a few tears slid down his cheeks. “When I think about it like that, when I remember how part of my choice was because - was because they’re _gone_ -” Aang couldn’t finish, his teeth sinking into his tongue to stop a choked sob from escaping.

The absence of his people was a never-ending ache, a pain rooted deep in his bones. And some days were more agonizing than others. Even days that should have been happy ones.

Iroh nodded. “I see,” he said after a pause, once Aang had wiped his eyes and eased his unsteady breathing. “I hope you understand, Aang, that your grief here is not irrational. While grief is seldom controllable, and often leaves us confused…” He shook his head. “It is not irrational. Your feelings here are what you need them to be.”

Iroh gave Aang a sorrowful look. “I regret that I have so little advice for you, Aang. The decisions of my ancestors, my brother, and my own may have caused irreparable damage to the balance of this world. Worse, in doing so, they stole everything from you. And for that…” Iroh shook his head. “No words can express my apologies.”

Aang exhaled slowly. “Not everything,” he finally said, once he was certain his voice wouldn’t waver. “Guru Pathik told me that my people’s love for me has not left this world. That it was reborn in the form of new love.” He gave Iroh a warm, if watery, smile. “You… remind me of Monk Gyatso. The way you take care of Zuko, even though you aren’t his father. Because it doesn’t matter. You -”

Aang’s voice caught in his throat. Iroh didn’t comment, and Aang collected himself before he continued.

“You still love him,” he said, maybe a little wistfully. Spirits, there were times Aang missed Gyatso so much he couldn’t breathe. “You still love him, and you would do anything for him.”

Iroh gave Aang a soft, sincere smile. “That is the highest praise I have ever been awarded. Thank you.”

Aang looked down at his beads once more. This time, he noticed Iroh’s gaze following them, too. “And… the Fire Nation can’t take my grief from me. I will always remember my people, and I will always work to keep their memory alive.” What was the future other than a world built on the past?

Iroh nodded. “Grief is nothing if not love,” he mused. “Grief is all the love we have for someone, for something, that no longer has a place to go.”

Aang nodded, eyes watering for what had to be the umpteenth time since their conversation started. Grief was love. All the love Aang had for his people that he kept in his heart, love so jam-packed it made his chest ache with pressure about to burst.

But love was reborn. Every day. Reborn in his friends.

In his family.

Aang turned, wrapping his arms around Iroh in a tight hug, an embrace the older man gently returned. “Thank you,” Aang whispered. “For taking care of Zuko. For listening to me. For…” He exhaled. “Just for being here.”

Iroh shook his head. “No, Aang. I am the one who must thank you.”

Aang wasn’t sure when he started crying. He wasn’t sure when his friends joined him on the balcony, either. But when they all wrapped their arms around him in a massive, ridiculous, everything-he-could-have-ever-wanted group hug…

_They_ were Aang’s present. His friends grounded him, keeping him in the now. And yet, if he opened his eyes?

Aang suspected he would fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how much i like this ficlet either lmaooo. regardless, aang deserves a million hugs and his friends will always be there to provide them!! i hope to see you tomorrow for the final day of aang week 2021 - love. (here's a hint: an overabundance of fluff. also, everyone's a little bit in love with aang! which is practically canon.) thank you for reading!


	7. love

7\. love - _don’t got nowhere to go / so we’ll go with the flow / yeah, we’re living the life / sippin’ on sunshine_

“I can help clean,” Aang offered as Iroh began clearing their group’s cups and plates from the circular wooden table.

Iroh chuckled, shaking his head. “There’s no need -”

“I insist,” Aang interrupted, standing and collecting his own dishes. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for closing the shop early so we could be together without politicians and paparazzi peering over our shoulders.”

“There’s no use arguing with him,” Toph commented before Iroh could protest further. “Once Twinkle Toes decides to help someone, nothing will change his mind. Accept your fate, Iroh.”

Katara laughed along with the rest of their friends, and Aang gave them a guilty grin.

“Hey, I learned from my wife-to-be,” he teased, pressing a kiss to Katara’s forehead. “Never turn my back on people who need me!”

Katara rolled her eyes at his comment, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Aang and Iroh gathered the last of the group’s dishes before disappearing into the kitchen.

Zuko hummed in contentment, draping an arm around Mai’s shoulders. “I wish we could meet up like this more often. Be together without all the chaos.”

Today had involved an annual meeting of important representatives from all four nations, this year hosted by the Earth King. In other words, Katara knew, it was a very rare opportunity for their friend group to reunite in full. Only after the day’s politics had ended, of course.

Sokka snorted. “I agree, but you’ve gotta admit it’s pretty much impossible for this to be a regular event.”

“Ember Island is always open for an impromptu vacation,” Mai reminded them, earning more laughter from the group.

“I might take you up on that soon,” Suki mused, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and shaking her head. “A vacation is sounding more and more attractive with every second.”

Katara allowed herself a breathy sigh. “Spirits, if I could get Aang to take a vacation…” She snorted. “That would be the day.” Her fiancé was notoriously stubborn about working until he dropped. In fact, there was only one other person whose work ethic could compare.

Mai chuckled. “Zuko is exactly the same. Always working himself into the ground.”

Ah, yes. There it was.

Toph snickered. “Sounds like a match made in the Spirit World. Are you guys sure Zuko and Aang shouldn’t be the ones getting married next month?”

Zuko flushed a shade of scarlet as bright as his fire. “I’m sitting right here, you know.”

Katara bit her tongue to hold back a snicker as Toph grinned at him. “Yes, I’m very aware.” Her grin narrowed into a sly smirk. “You’re sitting right here, and yet you deny nothing.”

Sokka burst out laughing, lightly elbowing Zuko in the ribs. “She’s got you there, hotman.”

Mai snorted at the nickname before giving Katara a play-sympathetic look. “Master Katara, how do _you_ cope with the fact that my husband and yours-to-be are in love with each other?”

Katara sighed, leaning back in her chair and pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “Oh, it was incredibly difficult for me to come to terms with.” She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. “After I learned they’d kissed, I thought I’d never -”

“Oh, Agni,” Zuko groaned, burying his face in his hands at the same time Toph exclaimed, “Sparky and Twinkle Toes have _kissed_?!”

Katara couldn’t feign her melodrama any longer, letting herself succumb to a fit of intense laughter that made her entire upper body shake.

“Yes, they have,” Mai confirmed with a smirk. “It was hilarious, and I will never let Zuko hear the end of it.”

Zuko stared dead into the distance, his empty expression screaming that he’d rather be anywhere but there. “You’re going to tell them the story, aren’t you.”

The melancholic certainty with which he spoke was enough to make Katara snicker once more as she gave Mai a knowing glance, but before the Fire Lady could respond, Sokka spoke.

“Of course they’re going to tell us the story,” he scoffed. “The Avatar and the Fire Lord kissing? That’s the kind of thing you pass on forever to future generations!”

Suki laughed. “You sound way too invested for someone who has _also_ kissed the Avatar,” she teased, smirking at her boyfriend.

Katara raised an eyebrow in amusement. Now _that_ was news to her. “You did what, Sokka?”

Blood rushed to her brother’s face. “Not on the lips!” he squawked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am just very comfortable in my feminine side around Aang.” He tapped his cheek. “So yes, we have technically kissed, but not like _that_.”

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure we’ve all been on the receiving end of Aang’s affection in some way or another,” Suki conceded. “That’s just his way of expressing love.”

A smile flitted onto Katara’s lips at her friend’s words. She knew most of all, perhaps, how Aang inclined towards physical affection. He was especially fond of kissing the tip of her nose.

“Really?” Sokka said, bewildered. “What, does he have a ‘thing’ with each one of us?”

Suki shrugged. “I mean, I guess so?” She smirked at their group. “Aang and I have a special, top-secret handshake. That’s _our_ thing.”

Katara laughed. “I remember when Aang was just beginning to figure out the motions he wanted to include in your handshake.” She held her own hands up in joking surrender. “I was never privy to the final product, of course. Only experimental aspects.”

Sokka pouted. “First of all, I am hurt that I was never told this handshake existed. And second” - wounded, he placed a hand over his heart - “how come _I_ don’t have a handshake with him?”

Suki rolled her eyes. “Babe, you said yourself that your thing with Aang is cheek kisses.”

Sokka appeared unconvinced. “Yeah, but I’m not the _only_ one who gets cheek kisses from him.” He jutted his thumb towards his sister. “Katara gets them all the time!”

“Katara is also going to _marry_ him, Snoozles,” Toph said with a snort. “I don’t think it’s totally off-base to consider she might have a few additional privileges compared to the rest of us.”

“Katara might be the one who snagged the Avatar,” Mai drawled, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, “but I think it’s safe to assume that everyone in here had a crush on Aang at some point in their life.”

Katara burst out laughing both at Mai’s declaration and the different forms of denial that followed. She’d long since accepted the reality that Aang’s charm meant many people would fall for him. And if anything, it made her feel even luckier that _she_ was the one preparing for a wedding.

Mai appeared to thrive on the chaos she’d incited. The Fire Lady had clearly been spending more - maybe too much - time with Aang. “I don’t know why you’re all so up in arms about this,” she commented, studying her nails. “When I saw him dressed up for Zuko and I’s wedding, I wondered if I was marrying the right man after all.”

Zuko choked at her words, and Mai laughed as she patted him on the back. “Kidding. But I did think Aang was the best-looking man at the reception.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Zuko, who sighed, shoulders slumping. “No, I agree with her.” He flushed, his eyes dropping to the table. “Aang was definitely the most attractive person there.”

Katara remembered that outfit of her fiancé’s fondly. Saffron robes that danced the line between classy and casual, as fitting for an Air Nomad Avatar. And perhaps she recalled the attire begrudgingly, too, as it had attracted both wanted and unwanted attention towards her then-boyfriend at the reception.

“I’ll admit my heart fluttered the first time Aang returned to Kyoshi Island after the war,” Suki mused. “I hadn’t expected him to get so _tall_.”

Sokka gave his girlfriend an affronted look. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t I there -”

Suki silenced him with a finger over his lips. “Sokka. We _both_ spent that weekend discussing how hot Aang had gotten. Don’t deny it.”

Katara raised an eyebrow at her brother. “You were planning to make some moves on Aang?”

Sokka’s face reddened. “You know what?” he finally said. “Maybe in another life. I’ll leave it at that.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Toph,” Mai commented, giving the earthbender a small smirk. “When did _you_ realize you had a crush on ‘Twinkle Toes’?”

Toph crossed her arms over her chest, which Katara noted with amusement did nothing to hide the rosy blush coloring her friend’s cheeks. “Never. Because unlike all of you, I’m _blind_ and therefore cannot be affected by Aang’s so-called ‘good looks.’”

“Aw, but Aang is so much more than his looks,” Katara teased, unable to remain out of the chaos Mai had incited any longer. “What got you, Toph? His voice? His jokes? His incessant kindness towards anyone and anything?”

Toph opened her mouth before slamming it shut. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll tell you. On _one_ condition.” She pointed at Zuko. “I still want to know how Sparky and Aang locked lips.”

Mai snickered at her husband’s misfortune, and Katara herself couldn’t help but laugh as Zuko muttered a variety of curses under his breath.

“An easy deal,” Katara agreed. “Now tell us - what got you?”

Toph exhaled a resigned sigh. “His voice,” she grumbled, and the table burst into another round of laughter and cheers. Really, they were lucky that Iroh or even Aang himself hadn’t returned to investigate all the noise.

“Honestly, no one can blame you there,” Sokka remarked, shaking his head. “Who could have predicted Aang would grow up the way he did?”

Katara raised an eyebrow at her brother, though she doubted the expression was as intimidating as she intended it to be. “Really?”

“Okay, well, except for _you_ -”

“Enough chatter!” Toph interrupted, slamming a fist on the table. A smirk pulled at her lips. “Sparky? Storytime?”

Zuko groaned. “Remember how I said I wished we could all meet up more often?” He shook his head. “I take it back.”

Suki laughed. “Stop whining and get on with the story, Zuko.”

“Or else I’ll tell it for you,” Mai added, slipping her hand into her husband’s. Katara couldn’t deny the story would be funnier if Mai told it, as she’d already heard it a dozen times from her friend.

Zuko sighed. “It’s not even an exciting story.” He rolled his eyes. “I was going over some paperwork with Aang and Mai. At one point, Aang was called away for - for Avatar business, or something.” He huffed. “Aang went to give me a ‘goodbye kiss’” - Zuko pointed to his forehead - “because that’s his ‘thing’ with me, I guess. But I didn’t realize what he was doing, so I looked up to ask him a question, and we -”

“- and you accidentally kissed?” Sokka finished flatly. “Aw, man! That _is_ boring.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Such a letdown.”

“What Zuko conveniently forgets to mention every time he tells this story,” Mai said, amused, “is that he leaned _into_ the kiss.”

Toph burst out laughing as Zuko adamantly protested that no, he had _not_ , no matter what his wife said. “So,” the earthbender said amidst her snickers, “what I’m hearing is that Zuko never really got over his crush on Aang?”

“No, he did not,” Mai mused. “But it’s not like I can hold that against him. Having a crush on Aang is perfectly understandable.”

“If it’s any consolation, Zuko,” Katara said, resting her elbows on the table and placing her chin atop her hands as she gave the firebender a devilish grin, “Aang thinks you’re a pretty good kisser.”

Her comment set their group off for the umpteenth time, and Katara snickered at the rollercoaster of emotions roaring over Zuko’s face. There was nothing better than sparking a little chaos every now and then, was there?

Huh. Aang had rubbed off on her, too. She supposed being engaged to him would do that.

“Uh… I feel like I missed something here?”

Katara bit the inside of her cheek to contain her laughter as Aang dropped into his seat beside her. “Oh, no. You didn’t miss anything.”

Aang stared with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment at their friends, who were yet to collect themselves. “Are you sure? What did you guys talk about without me?”

Katara hummed noncommittally, shrugging. “Nothing special.” She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. “Just how much we love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more of aang being adored by his friends in fanworks 2k21, please and thank you. i hope you enjoyed my collection of ficlets for the week, and as always - thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> honestly this is my least favorite ficlet of what i've written for each day lmfao. but that does mean we can only go up from here! see you tomorrow for day 2 - family/gyatso :)


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